Collegewise

November News for Friends and Family

The New-and-Improved Collegewise Los Angeles is Open for Business

In spite of a lack of significant photographic evidence to substantiate this claim, we really do have a new office space in Los Angeles. It's big and beautiful with windows and offices and we can't wait to show it off on our blog and in person.

space

We're still working on more photographs.  Arun has spent quite a bit of time agonizing over where to hang each individual college pennant and poster, if they should be arranged by color or college conference, and whether or not posters should be framed (and if so, with or without backing?--so many decisions!). In the interim, he didn't want us taking pictures until those decorations are hung in the office with care.

The One Thing You Need To Know About...

The more advice you're given about college admissions, the more complicated the whole process seems.  So this month, we picked some of the most common college admissions topics and, for each one, asked ourselves, "What's the one thing a student really needs to know about this?"  Read one to find five of those of those one-things.      

1.  College Essays

Don't write what you think the colleges want to hear.  You'll inevitably end up writing about how community service taught you that it's important to help people, or how your trip to Spain taught you to appreciate different cultures.  And those are the essays that everybody writes. 

Inside the Admissions Office

Arun Ponnusamy, director of our Los Angeles office, is riding high these days. His beloved Ohio State Buckeye football team is ranked #1—he hasn’t missed a game on his flat screen all season.

When she’s not in the office next to Arun, Collegewise Counselor Jessica Schattgen is planning her wedding. This means she can recite all the advice from Martha Stewart’s last six “wedding guides.” And in our Irvine, CA office, Allison Cummings thinks that Burger King’s “Whopper with cheese” is a culinary delicacy to be enjoyed as frequently as possible. She’s acting on that belief. Regularly.

Fascinating? Not necessarily. But that’s the point. All three of these Collegewise counselors are regular people like the rest of us. And all three used to work as admissions officers at selective colleges.

Is Your (Future) College Town One of the Most Affordable Places in America to Buy Real Estate?

CNN Money recently surveyed the most affordable NCAA Division 1-A college football towns for purchasing homes. Muncie, Indiana, home to Ball State, was the most affordable in the entire country, while the area around Stanford University is the most expensive in the nation. In fact, the Pac-10 is the most expensive conference in the country when it comes to real estate!

So, when you're thinking about where you might apply and go away to college, look past the four years that you're in school and think about what you might want to do post-graduation. Like the article details, "School spirit draws many alumni back to (the areas around their) alma mater... continuing their education, pursuing jobs, enjoying cultural activities and following college sports make these communities ideal homes."

Most affordable college football towns
Here's the best bargains for big-time college sports and affordable housing.
School	Town	Avg. price
Ball State	Muncie, IN	$150,000
TCU	Fort Worth, TX	$151,250
Tulsa	Tulsa, OK	$153,750
Oklahoma State	Stillwater, OK	$162,000
Texas Tech	Lubbock, TX	$163,250
Toledo	Toledo, OH	$163,278
Louisiana-Monroe	Monroe, LA	$164,499
Houston	Houston, TX	$169,736
Rice	Houston, TX	$169,736
Utah State	Logan, UT	$172,978

Fort Lewis College

Durango, CO

Do your friends describe you as a madman (or woman) because of your insistent pursuit of back-country sports? And do they think you’re even crazier because you’re looking for a college now where academics and nature collide? Well, tell them to sit down—you have some explaining to do!

Nestled in the mountains of Durango, Colorado is an amazing college called Fort Lewis. It’s an ideal enclave for extreme sports enthusiasts and bookworms alike. From the Adventure Education degree that prepares you to teach and lead others in outdoor activities like rock climbing and backpacking, to the BA in American Indian Studies, this unique liberal arts college has something for everyone in a setting that will blow your mind.